Mikaelson Family Values
by BellaLeigh1
Summary: An ultimatum from Jackson leaves Freya and Rebekah looking for a way to extricate Hayley from her marriage before Klaus and Elijah decide to take the easy way out.
1. Jackson's Ultimatum

_Fits in somewhere in season 2. Rebekah is back in her own body, but Dahlia is still out there. But, this is very much an alternate timeline. There is no Elijah/Gia romance, and Klaus is a lot less of a jerk to everyone._

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm meeting Rebekah for lunch."

"Like Hell you are."

Hayley raised an eyebrow at that. "Excuse me? And what makes you think you have a say in who I see?" She could understand if she were meeting with Elijah, even if it was just to give him time with Hope. But, what the hell was his problem with Rebekah?

"Last time I checked, you were my wife."

"And the last time _I _checked 'wife' did not mean 'property'. Now, you have a choice, Jackson. You can either get the fuck out of my way and let me bring Hope to spend some time with her aunt, or you can find out who would win in a fight. You may have gotten some neat perks from marrying me, but you still aren't a true hybrid."

Jackson moved the arm that had been blocking the door and let Hayley walk out. But, as soon as she was out the door, he called out to her. "Just remember, Hayley. The minute this stops being a true marriage, the pack loses the benefits from it. I suggest you stay the hell away from Elijah. And I also suggest you seriously consider just staying away from the whole lot of them."

She didn't bother to respond as she carried Hope out to the car and strapped her into her car seat.

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

"He did what?!"

"I am starting to really wish I never went through with this marriage. I never considered what being married to the Alpha of a pack of wolves would really be like. I guess I never really realized that my people aren't exactly living in the twenty-first century." If only… Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of the one thing that could have prevented this. "Why didn't Elijah fight for me, Rebekah? One word. One word from him is all it would have taken. I tell him that I have to marry Jackson, and he fucking tells me to go ahead and do it! And then he fucks my brains out…"

"Whoa! Hayley, I love you. You are one of my best friends. But, please remember that Elijah is my brother, and I really don't need details about his sex life."

"Sorry, Beks. I just… I just wish Elijah had fought for me. We could have figured something else out to get the wolves on our side. Hell! We have a first-born Mikaelson witch! _Freya_ could have made them all Moonlight Rings, or linked me to them, or something."

Rebekah reached out with the arm that wasn't holding Hope, and patted Hayley's arm. "Well, don't forget that at the time, we _didn't_ have Freya. Which is really neither here nor there, at this point. But, as for Elijah… He did fight for you, Hayley. In his weird, Elijah way, he fought like Hell. He let you go. Which, doesn't sound like fighting for you, I know. But, he fought for your happiness. Against himself, and his own desires. Against his own happiness, really. He could hardly have anticipated the turn your marriage would take. He was trying to do the right thing, for you and for Hope." She smiled. "Remember, you and Elijah are immortal. Jackson is not. Elijah doesn't talk about it, he will never come right out and say it, but he knew that all he had to do was wait. What's a few decades to two people who can expect to live forever?"

Hayley just stared at her. "You really think his plan is just to wait until Jackson dies? And then… what? Swoop in and…" She trailed off, not even sure where she was going with that sentence.

"Oh, he'd have given you a respectable amount of time to mourn. And then he would have let you know that he still loved you, and let the ball be in your court, so to speak."

Rebekah's word choices were certainly interesting, though. "You say that that's what he would have done. Like, that's not what he's going to do, now."

The smile Rebekah gave her was almost feral. A reminder that she may not be a wolf, but she was still a predator. "Yes. That _was_ the plan, I'm sure. I am also sure that the plan is about to change."

"Rebekah… Please don't say anything. He's right. All we have to do is wait."

"I hate seeing the two of you like this. But, all right. As long as it's just about you and Elijah, I will let you dictate how to handle this. But Hayley… If he makes good on the rest of that. If he tries to keep you and Hope from the rest of us… Wouldn't you rather him deal with me and Freya than Nik? Think about that." She handed Hope back over to Hayley and stood up. "Keep in touch, Hayley. If I go more than two days without hearing from you, I will assume that your husband has forgotten his place in this family. And your place in it. Maybe I'll come look for you, myself. Maybe I'll tell Elijah that you're being held against your will. Or maybe I'll just ask Nik when was the last time he saw his daughter."

And then she was gone, leaving Hayley alone to try to figure out what to do next.

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

The sound of the front door slamming made Elijah look up in alarm. Alarm that only grew when he saw that it was Rebekah. Rebekah, who had just been visiting with Hayley and Hope. His blood ran cold at the thought that something could have happened to one of them.

"What happened? Is Hope okay?"

Where Niklaus had come from was anybody's guess. But, it didn't really surprise Elijah that his little brother had come running when he heard the door slam.

"Hope is fine." Rebekah looked at Elijah. "And, before _you_ start on me, so is Hayley. I just really need a drink, right now."

"Not until you tell us what has you slamming doors. If they're both fine, then what exactly is the problem?"

Rebekah sighed. "Fine might be a relative term for Hayley, right now. Married life is not exactly everything she ever dreamed it would be."

"No, I can't imagine that it is. Not this time. It's her second marriage that will be the fairy tale 'happily ever after'. Most little girls don't grow up dreaming of a marriage of convenience. They want a Prince Charming to ride up on a big white horse and sweep them off their feet. I fear I may have done her a disservice by encouraging this nonsense."

Elijah could only stare at his little brother. That was possibly the first time in a thousand years that Niklaus had even come close to admitting that someone else's feelings were something to be taken into consideration. He eventually turned his attention back to Rebekah. And swallowed hard at the look on her face. She was angry. Whether that was at Niklaus, or someone else, he didn't know. But, considering the conversation they were having, it hardly mattered. Rebekah's anger had Elijah terrified. "What's wrong with Hayley?"

"Nothing. She's just not exactly happy. I honestly shouldn't have even said as much as I did. I promised her that I would leave the two of you out of this. It's nothing she can't handle. And she'll ask for our help if she needs it. Now then. I am going to pour myself a glass of wine, and take a nice long bubble bath." And she was gone before even they had time to react.

Elijah looked over at Niklaus. "Are you buying that?"

"Not in the slightest. Hayley is in some kind of trouble. However, that girl is hardly helpless. I don't like it anymore than you do, but… for now, we play this her way. We let her take care of her own problems."

"I love her, Niklaus."

"I know. And one of these days you are going to have to let yourself yell at me for my part in this. But, I promise you, Elijah. If it starts to look like she's in over her head, I will massacre every single wolf in that bayou if that's what it takes to get her out of there. Not just Hope, but Hayley too."

"If it comes to that, you won't be alone."

****~Mikaelson Family Values~****

For a week, Hayley made a point of calling Rebekah every night to "let her say goodnight to Hope." And then she misplaced her phone. When she still hadn't found it the next day, she knew she needed to do something, before she had one or more Mikaelsons in her yard demanding to know what was going on. How would she explain that to Jackson? There was only one thing to do.

Jackson saw her packing Hope's diaper bag for another day out and scowled at her. "You can't even go two days without them, can you? It's like some kind of sickness."

"Let me go, Jackson."

"I'm getting sick of it, Hayley. That family is toxic. Why can't you just see that?"

"They're Hope's family. Hell! They're _my_ family. The only real family I have. And let's not forget just whose fault _that_ is. And you have no right to keep me from them."

"Yeah. They're your family. And never mind that you've screwed two of them. You know what? Go on. Go to them. I'll step aside one last time. But this is the last time, Hayley. After today… Any more contact with any of them, and you can explain to the pack why they're about to lose control of their wolf side, again."

Hayley grabbed Hope and stormed out. Who the hell did he think he was? And did he really expect any of the Mikaelsons to just stand aside and accept that? Elijah might be willing to wait for her, but none of them were going to be willing to give up Hope. Especially not Klaus. Jackson's ultimatum may have just signed his death warrant.


	2. Klaus's Terms

"So, I just need you to let Rebekah know that I lost my cell phone, and I'm fine, and I'll call her as soon as I find my damned phone."

"No."

Hayley frowned. Why was Cami being so obstinate? "What do you mean, no?"

"I'm not going to lie to her for you, Hayley. And you are not fine. I'm a psychiatrist. Family counseling isn't exactly my specialty, but if you think I'm not going to recognize a domestic abuse victim when I see one, you're wrong. Especially when that victim is a friend, and so I'm seeing the changes in her first-hand."

"I'm not being abused, Cami. Seriously. You think Jackson can fucking hurt me? Me? I'm a fucking hybrid. If he ever lays a hand on me, I'll rip his damned head off."

Cami shook her head. "You're in denial. Which is normal. But, there is more than one kind of abuse, Hayley. Your husband is trying to dictate who you can and cannot have contact with. Shutting you off from your friends, your family. Threatening you. He's gaslighting you. So, no. I am not going to lie and tell Rebekah that you're fine. In fact, right about now, I'm tempted to go talk to Elijah."

"No! If Elijah or Klaus get involved, there will be a massacre."

"Which, the fact that you're afraid of Elijah's involvement tells me that deep down, you know that I'm right. So, the question is, what do we do about it?"

"Yes, Hayley. What are we going to do about it?"

"Hello, Rebekah. What brings you here?"

"Cami's text message saying that you were here giving her some bullshit story about a lost cell phone. I thought I would come over and find out for myself why you were so willing to go back on the deal we had regarding your safety."

"It isn't actually a bullshit story. I really did lose my cell phone."

"Or, your emotionally abusive, control freak of a husband hid it on you. After all, the possibility of that happening is exactly why I wanted to hear from you at least every other day. Now then. What exactly has he done? Besides just stolen your phone to try to cut you off from the rest of us?"

Hayley sighed. She couldn't exactly keep it from Rebekah. After all, her friend would only get more suspicious if Hayley just stopped contacting her. If she wanted to retain any semblance of control over this situation, then she needed to come clean. Otherwise, it wouldn't be long at all before she had three Original vampires in her front yard demanding to see her. "After today, any contact with any of you will result in him divorcing me. And I can explain to the pack why they're about to lose the control that the Bonding ritual gave them."

"And he intends to do what, exactly, when my brothers hear about this? Does he really expect Nik to just roll over and accept the two of you keeping Hope from him? Just to mention the most obvious problem with his little ultimatum."

"I don't think he thought that far ahead. He's so worried about severing any ties I have to Elijah that he isn't really thinking about anything else."

"Yes, that seems to be obvious. Then again, I daresay that thinking was never really his strong suit to begin with. So, what _are_ we going to do about this? I can always take a little trip to the bayou, myself. End this nonsense right now, without involving Klaus - or Elijah."

"No! Do you want to start a war? In fact, keeping your brothers from taking the easy way out is going to have to be your responsibility. I mean it, Rebekah. Get Freya to help figure something out. But, our way cannot include Jackson's death."

"Fine!" Rebekah tapped her chin. "Well, I'm sorry to say this, but we still need to involve the boys in deciding what to do about this. I'm sorry, Hayley. But we can't just take Hope away from Klaus and not involve him in deciding what to do about it."

Hayley sighed. She was actually expecting that. "All right, call them." She took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to explain this new development in her situation to the man she actually loved. To say nothing of the baby daddy whose first response to setbacks and adversity tended to be seeing if he could set a new record for number of heads removed from shoulders in a single minute.

And Klaus's reaction was pretty much what she expected. "I say we just go to the bayou and exterminate the lot of them. They can't keep Hayley from leaving the bayou if they're dead."

"No! Elijah, I'm begging you. Keep your brother under control. Please!"

"I am getting so tired of having to be his keeper. Especially now, when a part of me agrees with him. But, I'll behave. And I'll do my best to make him behave, too. For you."

Surprisingly, it was Klaus that came up with a solution. "Hayley, here are my terms for allowing you to put up with this nonsense. After all, you are a grown woman and we don't really have a right to tell you what to do. Too bad your husband doesn't have the same opinion. However, our daughter is a different story altogether. And if he honestly thinks that I'm going to just roll over and accept never seeing her, he's even stupider than I thought. So, here is how this is going to go. You do what you think is best to keep yourself and your people safe. But, I will not allow him to take my daughter from me. I am appointing Cami as my liaison. Every day, she will go to the bayou to collect Hope. She will bring her here for a few hours to spend time with the family. You tell your control-freak of a husband that that is the only way he gets to keep his head on his shoulders and his heart inside his body."

"And, meanwhile, we will write to each other, passing the notes in Hope's diaper bag. We'll keep you updated on progress with the plans to extricate you from your marriage. And, if things ever get out of hand, and you need out right then, what the rest of the pack will do be damned…" Elijah trailed off, but Rebekah picked up the thread.

"Then you tell us that. And all three of us will be on your doorstep very quickly after reading that particular letter. And, in the meantime, we'll get Freya to work on this."

Hayley nodded. Then realized that Elijah and Klaus wouldn't see that. "Sounds like a plan. Here's hoping it won't take too long to work this out. Because if he keeps it up, I might not need you to kill him for me. I just might end up doing it myself. Just because he got some neat perks from the ritual doesn't change the fact that I'm an actual hybrid and he's not. He's not really any match for me."

"It's going to be okay, Hayley. We'll get you out of this. I promise you. We'll figure something out. You just take care of yourself."

"And our daughter. You take care of her, too. Kiss her for me, and tell her I'll see her tomorrow."

"I will. And I hope I'll be seeing you all soon. But, in the meantime, we'll pass notes like we're in high school." She sighed as Rebekah ended the call. "How did this become my life?"

"Simple. You, being the martyr that you are, decided to sacrifice yourself for the sake of Hope and your pack. Granted, you also decided to sacrifice Elijah in the process. Though, we won't really go there. After all, we already had that conversation."

"Gee, thanks for the pep talk, Rebekah."

Rebekah smiled. "Anytime. Now then. You should probably get home and give your idiot of a husband my brother's ultimatum. I'll be interested to hear his reaction to that. Do write to us tonight to tell us how it went."

"What can he do? Klaus is right. He has no rights whatsoever to Hope. Klaus would be perfectly within his rights to demand I send Hope to the compound permanently. And while I would have a right to argue that plan, Jackson wouldn't. Hope isn't his. He has the rights Klaus and I allow him to have, no more. And if he tries to argue that point with us… I'll risk a damn war. I grew up without a family. I won't let him do that to her." She sighed. "But, yeah. I should probably get home and deal with him. Not looking forward to this at all."

Rebekah hugged her. "We'll write to each other. You keep us apprised of how things are going in the bayou, and we'll keep you in the loop about where we are in both the Aunt Dahlia situation and in figuring out a way to free you. It's going to be okay. I promise." And then she took Hope and kissed her cheek and hugged her. "And I will see you, tomorrow. You take care of your mommy, okay? She doesn't always take very good care of herself. And your Uncle Elijah will possibly wipe out most of the state of Louisiana if anything happens to her. So, we're counting on you to protect all of us, okay?"

Hayley laughed and took her daughter back. "I love you, Rebekah. And I promise, I'll be okay. I'll keep myself safe. And if it gets too bad… I'll let you do what needs to be done. I won't teach Hope that this is how relationships are supposed to work."

And with those words, she suddenly internalized just how abusive her marriage really was. And just what the real price of that could end up being. No, bad enough that she was going through this. If anyone tried to treat Hope the way she was being treated, she wouldn't even give Klaus a chance to react. The guy would be dead before he even heard about it. She took a deep breath. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Cami." And she left before she could change her mind, go to the compound, and tell Klaus and Elijah to go ahead and kill her husband because she didn't really care, anymore.

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

Elijah ended the call and picked up the phone, getting ready to throw it.

Except Niklaus grabbed it out of his hand. "If it gets bad enough that she doesn't wait for us to get a letter and decides to just steal Jackson's phone and call us, you're going to be the one she calls. As much as we hate it, we need to hold things together for now. For her."

"I told her to marry him, Niklaus. She came to me, and told me about this stupid Bonding Ritual, and I kissed her, and then told her to marry him. And I think about her surprise when I said that, and I realize… she wanted me to tell her not to do it. She wanted me to fight for her. And I didn't. I did this to her, Niklaus. I basically sold her to him to protect Hope and put our family back together. I did this."

"No. You didn't know, Elijah. You didn't know that it would do this. Neither did I. Me, Klaus Mikaelson. The most paranoid person on the planet. The man who has spent a thousand years constantly waiting for betrayal, to the point that he keeps doing his level best to drive his own siblings away, somehow never saw this coming. Set a thief to take a thief. If anyone should have recognized a manipulative, abusive control freak, it's me. You want to blame a Mikaelson for Hayley's predicament, brother? Then blame me. I'm the one that should have seen this coming. And I encouraged her to do it. You want to talk about selling people out? I knew damn well that the two of you are in love with each other, and I encouraged her to marry Jackson. I was so blinded by doing what I thought was best for Hope, that I didn't care how much it was going to hurt you."

Elijah smirked at that. "You're a father, Niklaus. Doing what you think is best for Hope is literally your job, now. No, not just your job. Your entire reason for existing. You did what a father is _supposed_ to do. I'll say this for you, at least you managed to learn from our parents' mistakes."

"Or maybe I'm just repeating them. After all, them doing what they thought was best for us is what got us into this whole vampirism thing. And look how that turned out."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought that you enjoyed it? That sentiment is one I'd expect from Rebekah."

"Oh, I certainly enjoy it. But, even I have to admit that it has its downsides. But, as for me doing what's best for Hope… There were other ways to protect her. And I shudder to think of Hayley putting up with this for years. Not just for her own sake, but for Hope's. Because what happens if Hayley is still with Jackson when Hope gets old enough to really see and understand what that relationship is like? Don't try to tell me that you wouldn't rip a man's heart out so fast that even I wouldn't have time to so much as blink if he tried to treat Hope the way Jackson is treating Hayley. Just like our parents, I didn't exactly think of the long-term." He smiled, then. "I'm counting on you to counteract that once this is over."

Elijah had growled at the idea of Hope someday going through what Hayley was going through. But then he had to smile at that last statement. "Unfortunately, right now, the best way for me to counteract it is to sit here and do nothing." When his brother raised an eyebrow at him, he sighed. "You and Rebekah can swoop in if it gets bad and do what needs to be done, whether Hayley asks you to, or not. Rebekah as her friend, and you as Hope's father. But me? If I do anything before she asks me to, then I am being just as controlling as he is. I have to trust her to take care of herself, and to ask for help if she needs it. I have to trust her to make her own decisions." And that was going to be one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. To just sit here, knowing that Hayley was in trouble, and do nothing went against every instinct he had.

"Don't worry, brother. Like you said, you may not be able to do anything unless she asks, but Rebekah and I are not under the same constraints you are. As her friends, we are allowed to stage an intervention. And nobody expects civilized behavior from me. I said it before, and I'll say it again. If it gets bad, I'll slaughter the lot of them to get her out of there. And you can be on record as trying to stop me and let her deal with things her way. Win-win." He poured two glasses of bourbon and handed one to Elijah.

Elijah clinked glassed with him and took a drink. "Win-win." It was going to be okay. He had to believe that. He had to trust Hayley.

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

"Have you made a decision about the Mikaelsons?"

Hayley wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, but it wasn't the rest of the pack's fault. And she wasn't going to leave Jackson until Freya found a way to protect them. She wasn't going to punish them because it turned out that Jackson's kind exterior hid the heart of a possessive control freak who thought that her wedding ring was a leash that he could pull her around by.

So, she bit her tongue to keep her true thoughts to herself. Took a deep breath. And told him Klaus's terms. "Yeah. I have. I won't punish the rest of the pack, Jackson. But, I also won't let Klaus start a war by ending our marriage the easy way. So, we're going to compromise. I will stay here. I will have no contact with the Mikaelsons. But, Cami will come every day, and she will take Hope to spend a couple hours with them."

"There's no need for her to do that every day, Hayley."

"This is non-negotiable, Jack. I will put up with your bullshit when it comes to me. But you will not dictate how Klaus and I raise our daughter. I may be yours, but she isn't. So, either you can accept Klaus's terms, or he can rip your heart out. Right now, I really don't care which."

"Klaus's terms?"

"Yes, Jackson. Klaus's terms. Did you really think that I would tell Rebekah that if I don't want the wolves to go back to being cursed that I can't see any of them anymore and she wouldn't immediately tell Klaus about it? He and Elijah both wanted to come down here and kill you right then." She left out the part about it being Elijah's love for her that stopped them. While it might have been fun, it would have just made the situation worse. No, he didn't say the words, he never did, but the subtext was obvious.

"Except they can't get in."

Hayley laughed. "Like that would have stopped either one of them? Take your pick, molotov cocktails filled with wolfsbane, or just setting the place on fire. After all, Hope and I were safe in the quarter with Rebekah and Cami."

Jackson sighed. "Fine. Cami can come every day to take Hope to see Klaus and the others."

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to make myself a bed on the floor of the nursery. I really don't care to share a bed with you, right now. And before you say anything about the damned Bonding ritual, married couples fight. Even couples that genuinely love each other with all their hearts fight. I highly doubt that me camping out with my daughter for a few days is going to be an issue."

She turned and walked out of the room. _Please, Freya. Come up with something quickly. I don't know how much more of this I can take._


	3. Covert Operations

Using Hayley's infant daughter to pass messages back and forth like they're in some kind of spy movie may not be Hayley and Elijah's idea of a good time, but they make the most of it

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

"Why do you need to bring a diaper bag when you're taking her to her father's house? Doesn't he have everything he would need there?"

"You obviously don't know anything about babies. You don't take a baby for a walk around the block without bringing a diaper bag. Because Klaus having things for her there isn't going to help if she has a massive diaper emergency on the way there that it would be cruel to make her sit in. Or decides that she wants her bunny that Uncle Elijah gave her, and the fact that there is an identical bunny at Daddy's house is besides the point, because that bunny may look like her bunny, but it is not. Or any of the million little reasons why you never go _anywhere_ without a diaper bag at this age."

Jackson just shook his head. And Hayley couldn't help but wonder if he suspected that the real reason for the diaper bag was so that they could use it to pass messages to each other. In particular so that Freya would have a means of telling her when she had figured something out. Not that that last part would probably occur to Jackson. She was pretty sure that while he might suspect her of passing love letters to Elijah, the thought that the entire Mikaelson family might be trying to help extricate her from her marriage would probably never occur to him.

Several hours later, as she unpacked the diaper bag, an envelope fell out. She smiled and hid it under Hope's mattress. She would open it that night, after Jackson had gone to bed.

The day felt never-ending. But finally, she was alone with Hope, and the rhythm of Jackson's breathing in the next room told her that she wouldn't be disturbed.

She pulled the letter out from under the mattress and read it by moonlight, grateful for her hybrid senses.

_Dearest Hayley,_

_It has been decided that I should be the one to write to you to keep you informed of our plans. I think that that decision was based more on giving me the opportunity to say things that are just between us than any practical consideration._

_Freya is already spreading herself a bit thin. Trying to both stop Dahlia and free you from your situation. At the moment, we don't really have much in the way of progress on either count. But, I promise you that she is working on it. _

_Niklaus seems to be hiding something. But, when isn't he? It would not surprise me if he has some diabolical plan of his own. At least for the Dahlia situation. His idea for how to help you is one that you can guess. I admit that there are times that I agree with him. It would be so easy. You would be free, and the ritual would be complete. Rebekah is actually the one doing the most to keep both of us from acting on this. She keeps reminding us that all it would do is create a second front in this war. The wolves would declare war, and might even attack you directly as the cause of our anger._

_And so we are waiting, rather impatiently, I'm afraid. And I am not ashamed to admit that I am the most impatient of all. I want you here, in my arms, where you belong. I want… well, perhaps this first letter isn't the time to tell you what I want. _

_Just know that I love you. I have always loved you. And my biggest regret in my very long life is that there was ever a time when I made you doubt that. That I was never the kind of man that could just say how I feel. And I hope that someday, I can replace that ring or your finger with one that will be more of a promise than a burden._

_Though, I need to stop that line of discussion, This is not at all how I want to do that. _

_I don't know that I'll write every day. Too much chance of Jackson discovering it if I do. But, I'll write at least once a week. More often if I have anything important to tell you. _

_Niklaus and Rebekah send their love. And, of course, you have all of mine. I love you, Hayley. Always and forever._

_Love,_

_Elijah._

_P.S. I know that you can't keep this letter. Pretend that it's Bonfire Night and burn it as my wish for you - and for us._

Hayley could only stare at the letter, as tears welled up. This, this was what she wished he had said the day she told him about the Bonding Ritual. Three little words were all it would have taken for her to call everything off. But, he had said them now. And there was a promise that someday, when she was free, she would actually hear them.

And then she read that paragraph again and gasped. The man had all but proposed to her. She turned the paper over and wrote her reply on the back.

_My Dearest Elijah, _

_It was so good to hear from you. And I'm glad that your siblings decided to have you be the one to write to me. And for their reasoning._

_Tell Freya that stopping Dahlia needs to be her first priority. Freeing me from my marriage will be all for nothing if I lose my family in the process. Like Rebekah said, we're immortal. I can deal with a few decades of Jackson if I have to. But, facing forever without Hope - or you - I can't deal with that. So, please. Make sure she deals with Dahlia first._

_And when isn't Klaus hiding something, or being diabolical? But, please keep him from taking the easy way out in helping me in my situation. Jackson has accepted that keeping Hope from you guys is a real good way to have three original vampires and a VERY powerful witch all after his head. And I need you to not get involved in this, Elijah. Rebekah's right, it would start a war. In fact, keeping the two of you in line in regards to this is something I asked Rebekah to do. So, now I'm asking you. For me. Wait for me, Elijah. Don't do anything your way about Jackson unless he starts affecting Hope. I can take care of myself. I don't know if the wolves would attack me. But, they would certainly stop being loyal to me, even with the Bonding Ritual complete. And they would certainly go after your family and the other vampires. You and your siblings would probably end up fine, but we'd drain Klaus dry trying to save the others. And how many of my people would die in the process?_

_So, as impatient as you may be getting, please, just wait. It's all going to be okay. Somehow. Someday, I will be there, in your arms, where I belong. In your arms, and in your bed. I'm not ashamed to admit that I want that, too. I'm also not stupid and know that that was what you were hinting at. But, please do not try to tell me that in a thousand years, somehow the one thing you haven't learned is patience._

_I love you, too. I have always loved you. And, I wasn't exactly fair to you on my wedding day. After all, you weren't the only one who never said those three little words. I am sorry about that. For not saying it. For being upset about you not saying it, even though you showed me so many times. Just… for needing to hear the words, but being unable to say them, myself. If only one of us had been a little bit more open and honest, a little braver, back when it would have made a difference._

_But, I'm not going to dwell on that. The past is the past, and there is nothing that either of us can do about it. All we can do now is make the best of the present and plan for the future. But, I promise you, once I am free of Jackson, you will never have any reason to doubt my feelings. Because I will tell you every day that I love you. And, I am very much looking forward to the day when you can put a ring on my finger. That ring I will proudly wear until the stars burn out._

_As much as it pains me to say this, I think that you should limit writing to when you have something important to tell me. The less reason we give Jackson to be suspicious, the better._

_Give Klaus and Rebekah my love. But know that my heart and soul are yours. I love you. Always and forever._

_Love, _

_Hayley_

_P.S. I couldn't bring myself to burn your letter. Not when it was the first time you ever told me that you love me. So, I'll instead ask you to keep it for me. I'll want it back once I'm free._

She refolded the letter so that her reply was on the outside, and then stuck it back in the envelope. And then she got Hope's diaper bag ready for the next day, sticking the letter at the bottom. And then she finally laid down on the floor in her daughter's room and went to sleep. And dreamt of being in Elijah's arms.

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

It was two weeks before she got another letter. Part of her was glad that Elijah was listening to her and accepting that she had their best interests at heart. But, part of her was starting to get twitchy, needing to hear from him, again. And the second she heard Jackson's breathing slow into a sleeping rhythm, she pulled the envelope out from under Hope's mattress.

_My Dearest Hayley,_

_Staying away from you is harder than I imagined. Not even writing to you is even harder. We may have a way of dealing with Aunt Dahlia, at least. It is rather convoluted, and not being a witch, I don't pretend to understand it. So, there is a very good chance that soon this war we are in will be over. _

_Don't worry, Niklaus and I will continue to behave ourselves. Just because we will be ending one war, doesn't mean we want to start another one. Especially not one that will automatically have you and Hope caught right in the middle of it. Even without Dahlia and the witches being after us, the best thing for all of us remains for the truce between our peoples to hold. Logically, I know that. Getting my heart to accept not having you around is proving to be another matter, entirely. _

_Though, I wonder if your people truly appreciate you, and the true queen you have proven to be. Even more than what your sacrifice means for us, I hate that you are forced to possibly give up decades of your life over this. I do hope that they understand what this is costing you. _

_But, there is, unfortunately, still no more idea of how to fix this without killing Jackson. As you requested, Freya has been concentrating her efforts on Dahlia. But, I promise you that the minute that situation is dealt with, finding a way to duplicate the Bonding Ritual will be my sister's top priority. We all want you and Hope home. _

_I wish I had more to say. All I can add is that I love you, with all of my heart. Well, there is more that I could say, but I don't know how you would actually react to that. So, I'm going to leave it for now. I'll write to you when we know more. Hang in there, Hayley. We'll figure something out. I promise you._

_Always and forever, _

_Elijah._

Hayley smiled. Well, that was good. One problem was about to be solved. Good. Made even better by the fact that once that problem was solved, they could start dealing with the rest of their problems. With a little luck, she would be free in time for Hope's first birthday. A girl could dream, right?

And then she read the last paragraph again, and barely held in a laugh. Oh, her calm, stoic Elijah couldn't mean what she thought he meant. Could he? Well, whether he did or not, Hayley's mind had gone straight to the gutter. She turned the paper over and started writing.

_My Dearest Elijah,_

_I am sorry for the trouble I'm causing you. For what it's worth, staying away from you is also hard for me. It is so tempting to just pack mine and Hope's things and leave here. To go back to the compound, back to you. My simply leaving wouldn't cause a war, but it still wouldn't be fair to the rest of the wolves. I try to remind myself of that. _

_But, every night, as I sleep alone on Hope's bedroom floor, wishing that I was in your bed, with your arms around me, I can't help wondering if it's really worth it. Would risking the Bonding Ritual breaking really be so bad? _

_But, it is so good to hear that at least one of our problems may be ending. Don't worry about not understanding what Freya is going to do to be able to explain it. I probably wouldn't understand the explanation, either. Hopefully, whatever she is planning will work, and we can be done with at least that part of our problem, soon._

_I understand what you mean about logic and your heart being at odds. See my first paragraph in this letter for a reminder of my own battle between those things. Logically I know that I need to stay here and be the Alpha my people need, and to trust Freya to eventually save me from the less pleasant parts of this. But, my heart just wants you. And doesn't care about logic, or what the pack needs. My head may be a werewolf queen, but my heart just wants to be with you, no matter what the cost. _

_I'm trying not to think too much of a worst-case scenario. I refuse to consider that Freya won't be able to do anything, and I'll be stuck here until Jackson dies of old age. Though, when that fear kicks in, I just remind myself that you and I are immortal. One way or another, someday I will be with you. I hold onto that thought, and remind myself of it when things get bad. It's helping to get me through. _

_As for what you were going to say, but that you aren't sure how I would react to it… My mind went to very interesting places. Perhaps not what you really meant, but I can't help it. _

_I miss you. I miss the way you used to look at me. I miss kissing you. Sometimes, when things are getting really bad, I let myself remember your reaction when I told you about the Bonding Ritual. Not the moment when you told me to go through with it. But the rest of your reaction. I remember being naked in your arms, your lips on my skin. I remember the passion in your eyes. And how good you felt inside me. And I remind myself that I WILL feel that again. _

_Perhaps not the best thing to be thinking about while I'm laying on my daughter's bedroom floor. But, my nights are extremely lonely, what can I say? I miss you, and I love you. _

_Always and forever, _

_Hayley._

_P.S. As always, give Klaus and Rebekah my love._

Well, writing that letter was maybe not the smartest thing in the world. No, she hadn't been lying about how often she remembers their last day together. But, still. Telling him that, just made her think of it, again. And made her miss him even more. She put the letter in Hope's diaper bag and then went and took a very cold shower. Not that the cold water was enough to dampen her feelings. And finally, she gave in, and let her fingers slide between her legs. And she closed her eyes and imagined that it was Elijah touching her. And bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed to keep from crying out his name.

**~Mikaelson Family Values~**

Elijah just smirked as Niklaus emptied out Hope's diaper bag, and handed him the envelope that had been tucked into the bottom of it. He opened it up and started reading it. And then his eyes widened as he got to the end.

"What's wrong? Is she okay? Do we need to go deal with Jackson, now?"

"Hayley is fine. And Hope is fine. Hayley sends her love."

His infuriating brother tried to rip the letter out of his hand. "Don't give me that. Something is wrong. What has you looking like that?"

"Honestly Nik, leave him be. I'm guessing that Hayley misses him. And decided to tell him just how _much_ she misses him. Isn't giving them a chance to have those kinds of conversations the whole reason we elected Elijah to be the one to write to her?"

"Right. I'm… going to go take a shower."

Niklaus smirked at him. "A nice bracingly cold shower, I assume?"

Elijah just rolled his eyes and then vamp-sped up to his room, and the connecting bathroom. Yes, he needed a cold shower. Not that it was helping. He forced himself to think of other things. And eventually he got himself under control, enough to be able to go downstairs and visit with his niece. Though, he had no doubt that he was going to have some very interesting dreams. He smiled at the thought of telling Hayley about them the next time he wrote to her. Turn about was fair play, after all.


End file.
